


All Around Us

by superfandomqueen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Angst, Drift Compatibility, Emotional pain, M/M, Pacific Rim AU, Pain, Physical Pain, The Drift (Pacific Rim), angst with happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27330151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superfandomqueen/pseuds/superfandomqueen
Summary: Lance was ordered to go to the Marshal's office. He wasn't what to expect, but meeting Ranger Takashi Shirogane was not on the list.
Relationships: Lance & Shiro (Voltron), Lance/Shiro (Voltron), Pre-Relationship Lance/Shiro (Voltron), implied adam/shiro - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	All Around Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DTheShadow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DTheShadow/gifts).



> A big thank you to idioticfangirl for betaing this for me! I wrote this for DTheShadow. I hope you enjoy this! (Sorry for posting late, I meant to post it earlier but things got in the way.)

_ I wanna taste the way that you bleeeeddd _

_ Ooooohh ooooohhhhh _

_ You’re my kill _

_ Of the niiigghhtt _

  
  


Lance rapped the beat into his thigh as he waited for Marshal Leone to call him into her office. It had been quiet since his sister Veronica had passed the message along. He wasn’t sure what the Marshal wanted with him, but he doubted it was anything good.

It never was.

Especially not after the last deeming he had gotten from Commander Iverson. Though, Lance supposed he had probably deserved that dressing down. He had become just as bad as Gunderson as far as scavenging parts had gotten.

Lance’s hand jumped to his mouth before jerking back down to his leg. The tempo switching as the song in his head flipped to a new one.

  
  


_ Seven devils all around you _

_ Seven devils in your hearts _

_ I’ll be dead before the day is done _

_ Seven devils all around you _

  
  


Lance felt his fingers still as his heart picked up the fast tempo. He really,  _ really  _ hoped that Leone didn’t want to talk to him about that last bit of trouble he got into.

He did not want to know what kind of punishment he’d get from someone higher up than the commander. Cleaning the bathroom and doing dishes for two weeks was bad enough. In perspective, that wasn’t even a  _ bad  _ punishment.

Before Lance got a chance to visit that rabbit hole, a voice snapped out his last name. Breathing in deeply, Lance stood up straighter and strolled into the office. A quick once over gave him the information he needed for a fast escape and any necessary people to go through. He turned to the Marshal and saluted. “Ma’am.”

“Cadet Sanchez-McCall,” Marshal Leone said, looking him up and down. Making him want to puff out his chest or do something to make himself a little bigger less scrawny.

Even though it wasn’t a question, Lance responded, “That’s me!”

“Take a seat.”

Snapping his mouth shut, Lance looked around a little more obviously and allowed himself the freak out of recognizing the other person in the room. With a quick nervous swallow, that unfortunately wasn’t faked, Lance sat next to  _ the  _ Takashi Shirogane.

“Is it true that you hacked into the security bots to get out of the base?”

Lance opened his mouth and tried to form an answer as his cheeks began to heat up.

Marshal Leone kept going anyways. “Is it true that you also broke into the simulators? That you have a partially built altered stunner in your room?”

Lance’ expression transformed into innocence. “Allegedly.”

“How about you solo-drifting?”

Lance’s gut dropped, the memory surfacing at the words. That  _ idiot _ had tried to solo-drift  _ just _ to prove a point and nearly killed himself for it. Had it not been for Lance following him into the jaeger hangar, Kogane would’ve gotten himself into something too much to handle on his own. Lance stepped in with Kogane when the imbecile had tried to solo-drift.

“No,” Lance said blandly. Something flickered across the Marshal’s face. Somehow it was  _ familiar _ , but Lance had never met her before. Then it clicked. Shirogane, Leone, and Kogane knew each other. More than that, they were quite close.

“I’m sure you know Ranger Shirogane,” Marshal Leone said, changing the topic. It took Lance less than a second to burst into Shirogane’s known record.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lance could see Shirogane’s face begin to tinge pink. Leone looked almost amused for a brief second before it straightened into a straight face.

“You know more than most.”  _ Oh _ , that was most definitely amusement.

But it wasn’t  _ Lance’s _ fault he followed Shirogane’s career. Shirogane  _ was _ the biggest and most well-known Jaeger pilot there was. Unfortunately in one of the last times he was in a Jaeger, Shirogane’s partner had been severely hurt. The one that had also been Lance’s teacher.

Lance’s heart sunk at the reminder. Ranger Adam West was one of his favorite teachers.  _ Correction _ , his favorite teacher. Who also happened to be the only one that didn’t give Lance the side-eye for his record.

Apparently, they didn’t care for known factory workers and alleged thieves. Although in reality, they should be more concerned about Lance’s ears and memory.

“How is Ranger West?” The question slipped out unapproved. Shirogane stiffened beside him, Leone got a thoughtful look on her face.

“He’s stable.”

Lance wished she went into more detail. That’s what  _ everyone _ knew about Ranger West. Instead of pressing further, as he desperately wanted to, Lance kept his mouth shut and waited. With much self-control.

Marshal Leone was content with letting him stew, but Ranger Shirogane was not.

“The Marshal here thinks you might be drift compatible with me because you drifted with Adam,” Shirogane answered Lance’s unasked question, only bringing more.

Lance nearly asked how Shirogane knew that he had drifted with Adam, but then internally smacked himself. Of course Shirogane knew he had drifted with Adam. Just as Lance had seen both of their memories, Shirogane now knew both of theirs too. The second thing had stuck out was  _ Adam _ .

With a closer look, Lance could see the dark circles under Shirogane’s eyes combined with the frown lines that creased his face. Lance felt a surge of sympathy for the Ranger, it wasn’t easy to have your partner to be hurt and  _ then  _ for them to go into a coma and  _ then _ being told to get a new partner.

“Shirogane is correct.” Lance looked back at the Marshal. “I think it would work.”

“Why?” Lance bit his tongue, tasting blood, to prevent himself from going on.

But Leone didn’t scold him, not that that allowed him to relax whatsoever. “Because I think you two could be compatible. Not only that, but you have the mutual benefit of already knowing some of each other’s memories without personally drifting.”

When she didn’t get an objection from either of them, Leone nodded and ordered them to show up in the Jaeger hangar the next day at 0500.

Standing outside of the Marshal’s office, Lance couldn’t quite believe that he wasn’t hallucinating. He opened his mouth as he turned towards Shirogane, only to find that Shirogane was already at the end of the hall. Lance jogged to catch up.

“Hey, man,” Lance started.

“What?” Shirogane asked, his voice was hollow. Lance could easily picture his face damn near splitting open with a huge smile, his face scrunching up in anger with his eyes shooting fire, his face— “What?”

Lance snapped out of his revelry. “I’m sorry about Adam.”

Shirogane’s shoulders tensed. “And?”

Lance dropped his voice, taking a step closer. “I know you and Adam broke it off, stop beating yourself up about that.”

“Don’t act like you know shit!” Fury lit up Shirogane’s eyes.

Lance flinched, but held his ground. “I know it from Adam’s perspective. He respected your dedication to being a Ranger, but he also felt it was going to kill you.”

Shirogane’s glare faltered, croaking out, “What?”

“Adam knew how to block certain parts of his mind, his memories, from the drift.” Lance inhaled deeply, exhaling through his nose. “He was teaching me that.”

Shirogane stared at Lance like he was turning into a Kauji before his eyes. Lance rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Come on! You’ve seen parts of my memories, right? You know why I don’t want to share certain parts of it. I have a rep to uphold,” Lance said, sniffing dramatically.

Shirogane swallowed. “Actually, Adam kept some of those from me.”

It was Lance’s turn to stare. Lance knew Adam was good, but that was better than he had known. That made Lance curious of just what of Shirogane’s memories had Adam kept back.

“Well, either way we’ll be trying out being drift partners tomorrow!” Lance clapped his hands together. “So! I will see you then!”

Then Lance was gone. He didn’t slow down until he was several turns later and realized that he was lost. Again.

If only he could get the damn base figured out, then he wouldn’t be getting caught all of the time!

Then again, if he had known the way around, he would’ve never seen the new Jaeger. Or know about Adam and Shirogane piloting it. Or tried piloting himself with Adam.

One probing question wouldn’t leave him alone.  _ Why did it work with Adam and me, but not him and Shirogane? _

  
  


~~~

  
  


It was 0500, and Lance had already been up two hours. He wanted to say he hated every second of it, but getting up earlier was so ingrained into him that he couldn’t sleep in. No matter when he went to sleep, he’d be up by no later than 0400. That was the best time to move around.

Whether it was to complete tasks in the dark or collect information or even prepare for another long shift in the factory.

Lance had gotten up and, even taking time to get dressed, got to the Jaeger hangar earlier than anybody other than the Rangers on the night shift and their engineers and techs. Sitting up in the rafters, Lance kicked his feet.

Anyone else wouldn’t have even thought to go that high. With the chance of falling that distance, no one would dare traipse above even the Jaegers to spy on anyone.

At 0430, Shirogane showed up. Looking maybe a little less like hell beaten and he might’ve actually slept for about a minute. He waited by his usual Jaeger.

At 0445, Lance made his way to a walkway and dropped onto it. Weaving his way through the halls down to the Jaeger, arriving with five minutes to spare. Lance leaned against the wall, watching the senior Ranger stare up at the Jaeger. Shirogane was still in his civies, just plain jeans and a worn sweater.

Lance waited for two minutes to pass before approaching his possible future drift partner. His stomach knotting up in anticipation. As he stopped next to Shirogane, opening his mouth to say  _ something _ \-- not that he had it figured out -- Marshal Leone stepped out into view. Despite knowing she was there, Lance flinched and swung around.

Leone might have been the only other person on the base that was as quiet as Lance. The thought nearly brought a smile to his face, after all, no one would ever call him quiet.

“You’re late,” Marshal Leone said primly.

“It’s not 0500 yet,” Lance came back with, he had figured getting there early was still late for Leone. Judging by the unimpressed look from the Marshal, that was the right assumption.

“You’re not in your suits,” Leone commented.

Lance said, “I don’t have one.” 

Just as Shirogane said, “I still think this is a bad idea.”

The cadet winced at the words.  _ Great to know you’re so confident in this. _

Giving an order for them to get into the Jaeger suits and meet in the Jaeger, Marshal Leone walked away. Lance turned to Shirogane to find him walking away, jogging to catch up, he wisely kept his mouth shut. Shirogane didn’t utter a word the whole time they fitted the suits on.

Lance kept his distance from the Ranger, not sure how to approach him without setting off the careful calm demeanour Shirogane was holding up. Tapping a familiar beat into his leg as they boarded into Lioness Priscilla, Lance froze at the doorway and tried to gage which hemisphere to take.

Shirogane lined up in the left hemisphere, allowing Lance to let out the breath he had unknowingly held. He shook his head at himself, he was slipping up on his control. Stepping into the right hemisphere, the cadet checked his gloves as he watched Shirogane out of the corner of his eye.

“The calibrations are set,” a voice came through Priscilla’s speakers. Lance took in a deep breath, allowing himself a second to fangirl over Lioness Priscilla with a good look around.  _ I’m in Lioness Priscilla! _ “You’re good to go.”

Shirogane stepped in line, Priscilla attached to his suit. A realization hit Lance. They were really about to drift.

Shirogane,  _ the _ Takashi Shirogane, was about to get a front row seat to his mind. Lance grabbed onto one of the connectors to keep himself upright. His chest suddenly felt tight.

Kogane was an accidental drift. Gunderson and Garrett were reluctant and only partially successful. The only one Lance had willingly let in was Adam.

He was faintly aware of Shirogane turning to him, saying something. Vaguely acknowledging that that had been the first time Shirogane had looked at him that day. Lance straightened up and allowed Priscilla to connect him, throwing up mental blocks as Priscilla connected them together.

Lance could’ve sworn he could smell garlic knots for a second as images flashed across his vision.

_ A miniature version of Shirogane running around with an identical boy, both laughing. _

_ Shirogane with his short hair standing next to the identical boy, probably ten or so, who held his hand tightly. “It’ll be alright Taka.” _

_ Rachel smiled at him. “I told you it would work.” _

_ A large foot came down through a pier. Wood flying past him, screams around him-- _

Lance squeezed his eyes shut, picturing a brick wall and began to count his breaths. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t real.  _ It wasn’t real. _

“Right hemisphere calibrating,” the voice came again, tone almost analytical. The tone flipped on its head as there was a sharp inhale followed by the voice speaking again quickly. “Left hemisphere out of calibration. Shiro’s chasing the rabbit.”

Lance felt his chest seize. He hadn’t drifted much, but they were all warned repeatedly not to chase the rabbit. The consequences of chasing the rabbit…

That was the last thing he wanted to think about.  _ Why was Shirogane giving in? _ Lance gulped, opening his eyes to look at Shirogane. Ranger Shirogane’s chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. Cadet McClain-Sanchez analyzed it with the instructors words, then shook them away. He knew a panic attack when he saw one.

Swallowing back tears, Lance released the brick wall he was building. Memories bubbled over him in a wave.

_ “Taka!” the identical boy shouted as he crashed into a still younger version of Shirogane. He had to be fifteen now. “It’s so good to see you!” _

_ “Ryou!” Shirogane’s voice came back in response, his arms wrapping around his twin in a bone-breaking hug. _

_ “Ray Ray!” Lance’s voice came this time, the memory overlapping Shirogane’s. A younger Lance bounced into sight this time, crashing into an nearly identical girl whose grin matched his own. _

_ Waves crashed on the beach. Snow covered ground. Excited children’s screams as they chased around each other. A black box being lowered into the grounds, the image blurry. _

_ “Rachel! Mami! Papi!” Lance yelled, his voice cracking with tears. _

_ “Momma, why? Why?” Shirogane whispered between sobs. _

_ “This is Lance! He’s our new addition,” some woman said next to him. The name escaping him as he returned the stares of grubby children and scowls from the older ones. Lance knew there wasn’t room for him, even if they squished him with the others. _

_ Lance didn’t care. Vero and Marco left him behind. At least they weren’t willingly abandoned by the same family that had promised to stay. Their families were just dead or couldn’t support them. _

_ “Welcome to the Garrison!”  _

_ Familiar brown eyes watched him for a moment before nodding, his head turning back to face their opponents. Their backs pressed together. “What’s your name scrappy?” _

_ “Scrappy Doo,” Lance said drily, lashing out a leg at one getting too close. _

_ “Real name?” _

_ “What’s yours?” Lance returned as he darted forward, cracking one across the face and bounced back. His back touching his ally’s back briefly before he moved forward again. There was a short snort before the ally moved into a quick flurry of movements, dropping his choice opponent. _

_ Lance felt a hit across his stomach, throwing him back. Cursing himself for getting distracted, Lance glared up at the jerkwad and his gleaming crowbar and jumped up. Just barely stopping the crowbar’s next swing and jerked it out of the jerkwad’s grasp. An uppercut hit his jaw, sending him stumbling backward. With a twirl of the crowbar, Lance swung it into the closest set of ribs. _

_ A string of curses spit at him, the target holding his ribs and backing up. Lance dropped as a fist came for his face. Smashing the attacker’s knee with the handy crowbar. _

_ “Hey, pass me that!” Ally called. Lance spun and tossed, the ally caught it as the factory worker reached his side. Lance struck out a throat punch as the crowbar connected to the ribs. _

_ The attacker dropped like a stone, choking. Yells filled the air, Lance smacked the guy’s arm before grabbing his wrist. “We have to go!” _

_ Lance led him through the alleys, not daring to stop before he couldn’t hear the yelling anymore. Leaning a building, Lance caught his breath and watched the guy in front of him. The ally wiped his brow and began to laugh. _

_ “What?” _

_ “That was something else,” the ally chuckled, shaking his head. “So do I get your name now?” _

_ Lance studied him, then stepped forward. The ally stopped chuckling, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. He swallowed as Lance took his hand and gave a firm shake. “Lance.” _

_ Brown eyes wide, the ally breathed out-- _

_ “Adam!” Shirogane called, jogging to catch up. “What is this about?” _

_ “It’s nothing. Forget it.” _

_ “I’m not against it! I’m just curious where it came from,” Shirogane said, his hand catching his boyfriend’s shoulder. Adam wasn’t meeting his eyes. “Who caught your eye? He has to be pretty amazing to that.” _

_ Adam’s lips twitched upward. “He is amazing.” Adam sighed, shaking his head. “He has so much potential. There is so much to him I want to learn more about. The rest of the teachers are hindering his progress. They refuse to see his potential. He is so full of it!” _

_ “Wow,” Shirogane said. “He really did impress you.” Shirogane snickered. “Do I need to be worried?” _

_ Adam shook his head fondly. “Not at all, Takashi.”  _

_ “Who is this?” Shirogane chuckled, slipping his arm around Adam’s waist. _

_ Adam leaned into him as he flipped a page over. “Leandro Sanchez-McClain, the new cadet.” _

_ “He’s hot,” Shirogane said, another chuckle slipping past his lips as he tucked his chin over Adam’s shoulder. “Was he the one who were thinking of?” _

  
  


“Shirogane,” Lance croaked, trying to see past the memories and grab ahold of his drift partner. “Come on, man.”

_ Shirogane threw a book across the room. His breath came out shaky as he collapsed onto the couch. “What the hell, Adam?! What were you trying to protect?!” Shirogane hit his fists against his knees. “What were you trying to protect! What did you have to keep from me!” _

_ A sob passed his lips. Followed by another before long, his body shook with it. His chest twisted in a sharp aching pain laced with anger. _

  
  


“Shirogane!” Lance called out again, Shirogane stared at his own form on the couch. Other memories flicking by them too fast to make out. The cadet got a hold of the Ranger’s shoulder. “Shirogane!” Lance gave Ranger Shirogane’s shoulder a harsh shake. “Takashi!”

Finally, the Ranger turned at the name. His expression crumpled at seeing Lance. Lance shoved the hurt away and focused on Shirogane.

“This is just a memory, Takashi,” Lance said, deciding to use the first name. It was the only thing that got through to him. “It’s not real.”

Tears rolled down Shirogane’s face as he stared at Lance, like there was something he wasn’t quite connecting. Lance stepped forward, testing his boundaries, and watched Shirogane’s face. Slipping his arms around Shirogane’s ribs, Lance hugged him.

“Come on, Takashi, you need to come back.”

“Left hemisphere calibrated!” the voice shouted through the speakers. Lance opened his eyes to see the interior of Priscilla and the Jaeger hangar. He turned and looked at Shirogane, only when he saw Shirogane’s tear stained cheeks did he realize that his own cheeks were wet.

They formed a fist and punched forward. Priscilla following their movements.

They had drifted.

The fact hit Lance in the chest. Somehow more shocking than the stream of Shiro’s thoughts passing through his own.

~~

Lance almost wished the next hour that they did drills had passed in a blur, but it hadn’t. It was in startling clarity, every moment of it. The way they had moved together, it was incredible.

It was terrifying.

When they disconnected from Priscilla, Lance felt an odd loss left in the near silence. Lance never had his thoughts so quiet.

As Marshal Leone spoke, Lance nodded and agreed when he needed to, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. As soon as she dismissed them, Lance fell into step with Shirogane. A sense of comfort wrapped around him in their comfortable silence.

Unfortunately, with Lance the urge to fill the silence was unbearable. “So, um, food?”

Shirogane blinked, his head turning with his suit halfway off. “Uh, sure?”

Lance gave an awkward smile, the calm from the training hastily fleed. Keeping his hands busy as he pulled off the suit, returning it to its holder place, and tugging on his normal clothes. Agitation sent his fingers tapping a beat into his ribs. Shirogane glanced his way as he pulled a shirt over his chest.

Breath caught in Lance’s chest for the brief moment of Shirogane’s bare chest was in view. Heat flooded his cheeks as he turned his eyes toward the door.

A slight smile curled Shirogane’s lips as he pulled a coat on. “Ready to go?”

Lance cleared his throat. “Y-yeah.”

The silence came, a semi-comfortable one. It allowed Lance to relax a fragment. Neither broached speaking again, even as they were dishing their plates full. Lance kept a button on his lip to keep him from disturbing the peace.

Before he knew it, they were sitting in the hangar again. Lance shovelled his mouth full, drifting took a lot of energy. He was halfway through his plate before Shirogane broke their mutual silence.

“We...we, uh, fought good,” Shirogane said, sounding the most out of sorts Lance has ever heard him. Aside from the visit to his memories.

“Uh, yeah. It went really well… well,  _ after _ the first bit. With the whole trouble with the drifting-- and I’m going to shut up now!” Lance let out a high pitched giggle and shoved another spoonful of goolop into his mouth to muffle any words that wished to come out.

Shirogane chuckled, a small smile coming onto his face. Lance stopped breathing. The smile was real.  _ Genuine. _

_ He’s smiling genuinely  _ because _ of me. _

Lance froze, his eyes wide at the soft expression Shirogane held. Shirogane raised his eyebrows at him. Lance told his traitorous heart to calm itself down.

“We--” Lance started, then stopped. Not sure of where he was trying to go.

“We have a strong drift?” Shirogane offered and took a bite of an indescribable chunk of food. Lance thought it might be salad, or ground meat.

Lance hummed in agreement, trying to keep his mouth shut before he could put his foot in it. Shirogane looked out over the Jaeger’s, then turned his head towards Lance again.

“We work well together,” Shirogane said, his smile still there. Lance nearly choked on his food.

Swallowing the food down, Lance offered his own smile. “Yeah, we do. We’ll be the most talked about Ranger teams. Shirogane and Sanchez-McClain.”

“You can call me Shiro, my friends call me that,” Shiroga-- Shiro told Lance.

“Than call me Lance.” Lance offered his hand to Shiro.

Shiro gave it a good shake, but didn’t let go as he said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Lance.”

Lance felt his cheeks begin to burn as he grinned at his new Ranger partner.

  
  
  
  



End file.
